Mazie's Hiding Spot (Hazel Mazel)

That lady that fills our food dishes around here just ruined one of my favorite hiding spots! After weeks of success with the cats all using the litterbox, she noticed pee-pee behind the tee-vee again. Everything had to get pulled and all the cords and the floor cleaned again.

I heard the feeder/cleaner person tell the other human that she heard cats dislike the feeling of aluminum foil, so she was considering trying lining the area behind the tee-vee with it. She also moved the power strip to on top of the subwoofer I like to sleep on. Now I can't get comfy at all! But apparently power strips and foil might not be a great combination, so that is why my hiding place had to be ruined.

Now no cat wants to go back there, so the hiding spot is even better than ever, but where can I rest? There is nowhere. Another cat bed was formed when another basket was cleared out that is nice and high up where mean Mouse would not find me, but I am not interested in it yet. Haaarrrrrummmmph! I want my old spot back!

Maybe you can't tell from my new photos, but grew up to be a BIG kitty girl! Daddy always teases me about being shy with the other cats because he says I am bigger than all of them now! Tee-hee...I guess I am still shy and little on the inside. Lilith is tiny!

Daddy said the weirdest thing about me last night. He said..."Poor Mazel. She is a giant kitty that does not even know she's the biggest kitty here. She's so shy." Yes, they call me Mazel. And yes, I am the biggest cat here, or certainly one of the biggest. And I am shy!

Last night, I had myself a giant bug. I was having so much fun torturing it...ahem...I mean playing with it, but Mommy made Daddy take him away. I kept looking for him to see where he went. Was he hiding?

Daddy said he never noticed that I have cute little stripes and markings on my backside. He hardly ever gets to see me in all my stripey glory! Mommy said yes...she has little pockets on her pants. I think these two need to get a hobby, don't you?

Sometimes when Mommy and Daddy talk to Lilith or Gilmore or Mouse or Kiki, they talk back by saying "mew". Well today, for the very first time, I said mew too! I was sitting like the pretty lady cat that I am in the living room when Mommy came up to me and started saying all kinds of silly stuff. Suddenly, I opened my mouth, and a barely audible mew came out!

Mommy thinks I was talking to her, but really I was trying to warn Gilmore, who was way too close to Mommy's legs. He was weaving in and out of her legs, purring up a storm, and he even let Mommy put her hands on him! I wanted to tell him to be careful not to get too close to the humans, but does he listen? NO!

I learned something new recently. I noticed that every evening, Mouse would get up and go over to tell Mommy something. Mommy would then get out of her chair and start walking down the stairs, sometimes carrying Mouse. Every cat would follow, no matter where they were or what they were doing. All the cats would gather around Mommy's feet and run in and out of her legs and try to make her fall down the stairs. Then Mommy would go over to food bowls with five cats meowing and purring up a storm.

I would wait until the coast was clear of people and cats and then go to see what they were up to. Fancy Feast Appetizers! But there would be very little, if anything, left in the dishes.

Finally one day last week, I decided to join them when there was still food to be had. Now I am the first one there as soon as I hear the signal from Mouse. (He is HOH so he controls when we eat.) I sit by my dish and look very shy and pretty while Mommy puts the noms in the dishes. Or sometimes I show up and surprise her at the cabinet. I can't believe I was missing this ritual all this time!

Mommy loves to see all six of us eating our noms at the same time, and I love getting my share instead of scraps!

Tonight after supper my Momma realized she had not seen me in purrrson since last night before bed. It is not unusual for me to go for long stretches of avoiding people, and Mommy was out all day or she would have noticed me missing sooner. I did not come out when it was time for din-din, but sometimes I don't.

Mommy started a frantic search and decided I had somehow escaped from the house, even though I have shown no inclination to try to escape, and if there were a way out, other cats would be missing too. Then came the desperate cries and the panic from Mommy.

Finally she saw Daddy with his rear sticking out of his bedroom closet. He found me in a closet that was searched about a dozen times, but in the way back where no one would see me. I am not sure how I got there or how long I was there, but it was probably a long time. :-(

Mommy feels terrible that I was trapped and scared and that my being brave/curious got me into so much trouble. But there is an unbelievable sense of relief that I did not escape from the house and I am mostly ok.

I was named after the beautiful Hazel Lucy, furwife of Buddie and friend, auntie and cousin to all. My beautiful face reminded Mommy of her, and I am so incredibly shy just like she was when she met her mom. So I am named after her, and I take after her too!

Her Mommy Julie coached my Mommy in how to be PATIENT and to let me get to know her on my terms. I still wish I was an only cat with no scary people, but Mommy sees more of me all the time! I even come to dinner with the other cats now.

And it's all thanks to the inspiring Hazel Lucy! I sure am going to miss her, but I am betting she will be the best guardian angel ever and will guide me gently into coming out of my shell even more.

Today I was the victim of two April fools named Mommy and Daddy. They decided that it was time I saw the vet to get updated on all my shots and to check my health. But first they needed to get me into that awful container. "Good luck with that!" I heard all the other cats meow while slapping their knees. I am not a kitty that allows any handling at all by human hands.

So this morning, Mommy started chasing me all over the house. Then Cas joined in! Mommy told Cas she certainly did not need his assistance and she put him on the porch. I was cornered by her and Daddy no matter where I went. They used the good ol' Swiffer to try to swiff me out from under the bed. I hissed! I growled! I ran!

Daddy had a big glove on that he uses to make barbecue. I thought he was going to barbecue me! I was terrified. He grabbed me with that big glove, but the other hand had no glove, so I went to town on it. I scratched and bit him. And just to make sure he got the full treatment, I peed on him out of sheer terror. Well, no one is going to barbecue me without a fight!

Once I was in the box, other stuff came out of me too. I don't want to talk about it. I was very embarrassing.

Then I got loaded up into the car with Mouse, who was already in there, meowing his stupid head off. He is a fool too!

At the vet, the doctor could not give me my shots because I bit Daddy. I have to be in quarantine for two weeks, but luckily, I can be in quarantine at home. See, I had a rabies vaccine before, but it expired. None of us ever go outside, so I know I don't have the rabies.

Daddy had to go to the doctor because I bit him. Serves him right! If I had to go the doctor, why shouldn't he? So he got injured and I got all wet and smelly for NOTHING because I could not get my vaccine.

I wonder how these fools think they are going to get me to the vet in two weeks when I have to go again in two weeks!

I have the most fantastic news to share! I am moving to Purrsville! Today!!! I was purrrrrsonally selected by my cousin Hazel Lucy, Angel Buddie and the Angel Princess Catsy to be Hazel Lucy's mom's new girlcat!

Last night Mommy threw me a Fancy Feast and catnip party. I told her to keep Cas off the guest list. I wanted only my fur family from the ESPN parking lot where I was born and rescued to be there. I had my littermates Gilmore and Lilith, plus Butters, who may or may not be our Daddy. We had a real feast and rolled around in catnip and thought about how far we had come since our life as dumpster cats in Mommy's work parking lot.

I have been very busy getting ready. I told Mommy I want to pack my heated cup bed, my favorite toys and some premium nip. I still have a lot of packing to do before my roadtrip and lots of good-byes to say here. I have to say I am really looking forward to being an only cat and having a new Mommy that will be 100% devoted to me.

The worst part of getting ready to move has been going to the vet. I finally got to go today, but I had to be sedated. I got my shots, exam and a microchip. They combed my fur and gave me a new pawdicure. They weighed me too, but I am a little too bashful to share details!

I will be assuming my late cousin Hazel Lucy's job of blanket tester, and I will have to learn how to purr. I am extremely shy and need to learn to trust people. I think I will get the hang of all this with my new Mommy's help. I have massive paws to fill!

This will be Hazel-Mazel's last entry before I transfer ownership of her page to Hazel Lucy's mom, Julie.

Mazel arrived safely in Purrsville last evening, and she has started her adjustment process. It won't be easy for her, but I know she will be happy.

When I found Mazel and her family in the parking lot at work, I meant only to foster them until homes could be found. I underestimated how feral they were and quickly realized they would need exceptionally special homes.

The most beautiful and the most scared of them was a grey and white tabby with calico markings. I named her Hazel, after Hazel Lucy, because it was Hazel's mom's love and encouragement that helped me realize what she needed. Also, their stories are very similar. It took HL years to bond with her mom. HL's mom also was a great source of encouragement when we rescued Catsy. But at our house, we always called our Hazel "Hazel-Mazel", which then got shortened somehow to just Mazel. Sometimes even that got shortened to Mazie or Maze-Maze.

Although we love Mazel, I never felt like she really belonged to me. I always felt like I was just holding her for the person she was really meant to be with. There was an extremely short list of people I could imagine her with, and Julie was near the top of that list along with one other person. I often remarked to Mazel's daddy that if (God forbid) anything ever happened to HL, that I thought Mazel should move in with Julie. Also, the amount of other cats here seemed to be increasing Mazel's shyness. I knew she would have a better chance of coming out of her shell in a single cat home with one person devoted to her.

When precious Hazel Lucy left for Heaven, I was heartbroken. But then a new idea took shape. As if she had known all along that Hazel-Mazel was meant for her, Julie asked if I would ever consider letting her have Mazel. There was not much to consider because I had been considering it all along! But we spent a lot of time talking about it, and I wanted to give Julie some time to make sure this was what she really wanted.

The weeks leading up to the move were stressful. We had to bring her to the vet to get her vaccines up to date and get her examined. The first try ended with Mazel being quarantined for two weeks and my husband in the emergency clinic. The second try was yesterday, and it was successful. Rather than put everyone through the ordeal of crating her a third time, we all decided it was best to drive straight to Purrsville.

I felt sad about giving Mazel away and wondered how the heck people foster kitties and then let them go. I never thought I was the kind of person who could just give one of my cats away. I thought I would be a mess. But when I met Julie and saw her new home with her little tent all set up, and then saw Mazel head straight into it and lay down, there was no question in my mind that she was where she belonged. There was no sadness at all. I am so happy for Julie and Mazel, and that joy completely outweighs any feelings of loss or sadness that I feel.

I know all of Catsterland will join me in wishing Miss Mazel and Julie GOOD LUCK AND A HAPPY LIFE! I know you were meant for each other.